Jordan Catholic School -

🦃 Happy Thanksgiving from Jordan Catholic School! 🍂

As we gather to celebrate this special day, the students, staff, and faculty of Jordan Catholic School are counting our many blessings. We are deeply thankful for our wonderful students, dedicated families, and supportive community.

May your day be filled with joy, peace, and good company! 💙💛

Mrs. Stear's 6th-grade Literature class was filled with writing inspiration today, thanks to a fantastic guest speaker. Students currently immersed in Memoir writing had a great virtual visit from Dr. Lily Simmons, Digital Operations Manager for the University of Pennsylvania Press in Philadelphia, and a lifelong friend of Mrs. Stear.

Dr. Simmons shared invaluable insights into the publishing world, detailing the steps required to get written work published and giving the class a peek into her daily tasks as a professional writer and editor.

The best part? Dr. Simmons shared a hilarious personal memoir titled "The Great Escape of 1997," detailing a shared childhood memory with Mrs. Stear where they, inspired by Home Alone, drew a map and planned a detailed escape from daycare! Such fun memories connecting writing to real life! ✍️

Mr. Baresel's 6th-grade class raced against each other to figure out hieroglyphic rules using the Rosetta Stone, an ancient artifact that provided the key to deciphering hieroglyphics, the formal writing system of ancient Egypt. The Rosetta Stone contains the same decree in three scripts, including hieroglyphics and ancient Greek, allowing scholars to finally understand the word-based and alphabetic symbols. Our students had a blast tackling this exciting challenge and getting hands-on with history!

Mr Baresel's 7th grade class learned about the American surprise victory at Trenton in December of 1775 from General George Washington himself. The students examined his battle plans, saw what his advisors saw and learned about how the great gamble on Christmas Day 1775 led to America's greatest victory of the War for Independence.

Our 7th & 8th graders joined QC area students for a hands-on experience at careers in the trades at the Building Futures Career Expo at the QCCA Expo Center. 👷🏻👷🏻‍♀️

JCS Staff (past and present) came together to create Christmas stockings and hats to start the season off right! Kudos to Mrs. Dodson for putting the event together. 🎄

So inspiring to see our Jordan students tuned in and totally focused as they watched Pope Leo XIV on the EWTN livestream right from the National Catholic Youth Conference! 🙏 What an incredible moment to feel connected to the Universal Church and the first American Pope!

🌟 Happy Substitute Teachers Day! 🌟
A massive thank you to our incredible substitute teachers! You step into the classroom ready to inspire, educate, and keep things running smoothly, often at a moment's notice. Your flexibility, dedication, and commitment to our students are truly invaluable.
We are so grateful for everything you do! Today, and every day, we celebrate you! 🍎✏️

Time for another great Kagan strategy called Pair Share in Mrs. Saucedo’s 5th graders classroom! Students shared their answers to the teachers question allowing each student time to share feedback. Way to go Mrs. Saucedo and her students!

Sixth-grade detectives in Mr. Baresel's social studies class dove into history, analyzing 10 mysterious clues to uncover the cause of King Tut's death. After piecing together their findings, the students wrote crime scene reports and presented their theories to their "Chief Detective"—Mr. Baresel, who was fittingly dressed in a trench coat and fedora. It seems solving this ancient mystery required all the sharp thinking of a modern-day investigator—a true "just one more thing" moment for the sixth-grade class!

🏫 Mrs. Shrake held a test run on newly learned professional development on Kagan strategies! Several of our teachers attended day 1 training in Naperville, IL and afterward observed teachers using the strategies at Hamilton Elementary School in Moline (thank you Mrs. Oswald!). More to come on this proven and practiced structure for our classrooms to increase student achievement, engagement and create a harmonious classroom environment through stronger communication skills.
✍🏻The activity pictured is called "All Write Round Robin" in which students provide responses in a round robin format until consensus is achieved. The student leader of each table is then thanked for doing a great job of leading their group!

Mr. Baresel's 6th-grade class went hands-on with history, exploring Ancient Egyptian pyramids by becoming structural engineers! Using marshmallows & toothpicks, students learned about geometry, stability, & the sheer scale of the Giza structures. It was a fun & sweet challenge as they figured out how to build the strongest & tallest pyramids possible. We loved watching them connect the math & engineering concepts to the amazing architecture of Ancient Egypt!

EarlyAct members helped hang lights at the Quad City Botanical Center. This is in preparation for the annual "Winter Lights" event, which features over 315,000 lights around the 5 acres of gardens. We hung lights around various plants and exhibits in the tropical sun garden and readied light curtains to hang outside. You can come and see our handiwork at the QCBC from November 21-December 31st.

7th-grade students in Mr. Baresel's Financial Literacy Class pitched ideas & business plans to several parents who volunteered to be the Sharks on Shark Tank. The entrepreneurial junior high students explained their businesses & business plans & fielded withering questioning over their sales, investment plans & marketing. They all swam with the sharks & managed to come out with their heads above water.

The Daughters of the King group met this morning & reflected on Isaiah 40:29-31 & how this passage shows that even when we may be tired & weary, those who hope in the Lord will be renewed. We can reflect on giving our best in school, with friends, & at home, knowing that God sees our efforts & gives us strength.

Shoutout to our Basket Raffle winner, Lincoln, who traded his textbooks for a broom & a dolly as our official Custodian for the Day!
He worked hard alongside Mr. Hessman, helping haul furniture &office supplies, scaling the ladder to check the roof 😲, & updating our outdoor school sign! He earned that celebratory pizza lunch! 🎉

Mr. Baresel's 7th grade social studies classes experienced the frustration of the British taxes of the 1760s firsthand today! They experienced "The King's Starbursts." They had a "King" & "Parliament" who taxed the clothing items they were wearing, with the cost paid in Starbursts. The catch? They had no say in making the tax laws. This hands-on lesson perfectly illustrated the principle of "no taxation without representation," showing them exactly why the colonists got so angry & sparking the drive toward the American Revolution!

Hey 5th & 6th grade girls! Don't forget there is a Daughters of the King meeting before school TOMORROW, Friday 11/14 at 7:40am. You won't want to miss it!